New cancer drug approved

Dammam, Saudi Arabia: A new drug that delays the metastasis of solid tumors was introduced at a medical conference recently. The new drug relieves pain caused by cancer and helps to protect patients and achieves positive results.

An international group of oncologists participated in the conference organized by the the Saudi Cancer Society in the Eastern Province. The organization clarified that the new drug has achieved positive result compared to the old medicine.

The specialists said that 18 percent of people who have cancer discover it when it is in Stage 4. This stage means that the cancer has spread from its origin to different places in the body, including lymph, liver, lung, bone, and brain. The bone is the most common to be infected.

Jean-Marc Nabholtz, director of cancer research at King Saud University in Riyadh, said that a new biological drug, Denosumab, which is given under the skin monthly, shows positive results and reduces the need for radiation and surgical intervention.

Nabholtz said that the medicine had achieved positive results for all types of cancers and also improved lives of patients. He explained that some cancers spread to the bone from the breast, prostate and lungs.

Miteb Al-Fahidi, a breast tumor consultant, said the treatment of tumors in the Kingdom has made enormous progress. “The new developments in oncology are tremendous and this new drug will help patients live with the disease without affecting the activities of daily life.”

He said the bone is a common place for cancer cells to spread and it happens in 70 percent of patients with breast tumors.

One professor of oncology at the University of Vienna said that the study which was conducted concerning the new drug included various types of cancers which led to the conclusion that the drug can prevent and delay the occurrence of symptoms and complications and it can reflect positively on patients’ daily lives.

Abdul Rahman Al-Shahrani, the director of Saudi Cancer Society, lauded the role of awareness campaigns in educating people in order to raise people’s health awareness levels.

“The organization is making all efforts to reach people with the latest information about cancer and how to be aware of it,” he said. “We also try to educate people about all types of cancers and how to treat them by organizing awareness campaigns with the participation of medical staff and oncologists.”